Sony A100 Housings New or Used?

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and joined for a few specific reasons. I'm looking to read as much as possible about peoples experiences with video and photography, underwater of course. I'm also looking for suggestions on where I might find a used camera housing for my Sony A100 and a Panasonic HD SD1 camcorder.

From the Sony standpoint the only new one's that I have found are the Nimar housing and it's a little more than I think I want to spend right now.

The Panasonic housing I found was Equinox, read good things about them, but not sure if they are the only option.

If anyone has a suggestion on where I might be able to find used housings in good condition I would be grateful if you let me know.

Thanks,
Steve

Steve,

For starters, welcome to the ScubaMagazine.net Community.

As to the Sony, being relatively new, in the U.S. you might want to just stick with the Ikelite housing. Being the camera is new, you may have a hard time finding a used Ikelite housing on Ebay.

As to the videocam, I think the Equinox is probably your best bet for a decent housing that is not rinky-dink. make sure you get the correct add-on controls, like the all-important white balance.

Although newer company with a newer product that is less likely to be found used on the Internet, we see Equinox at all the scuba shows, so they are not a fly-by-night company, and they are also a member of the ScubaMagazine.net Community here.

I have looked at their housings repeatedly at shows, and for the money, I think they have a good product.

All the really good macro video you see on the Internet is overwhelmingly done with dual lights, so if macro is your goal, make sure you have an illumination pathway for the housing you get.

If wide angle is your goal, make sure you have a red filter add-on pathway.

Thanks for the quick response pub... The Sony A100 is actually old in camera years(2005 ??) and Ikelite does not support/make a housing for it anymore. Only the A200 and up, thats why I was thinking about used for that camera housing.

Thanks for the heads up on the video equipment and additional add on considerations, I hadn't thought about the white balance issue.

Steve

Well, as to the camera, if it is that old, at least you have an excuse to upgrade! lol.

Nikon and Canon somewhat seem to have a stranglehold on the camera housing market, just as Sony video housings are the rule.

Ikelite housings are fairly standard, with just the control positions changed, so you would think that they could spark you up, but I know it is daunting for a housing manufacturer to keep up with the ever changing cameras.

Ebay has an auto-search feature I think, I would put that in and hope for an e-mail notification on a used housing at some point.

Hi Steve,

I can definitely assist you with any questions that you may have regarding our housings. I would make sure that if you decide to go with a used housing through ebay or an alternate source that you are very clear on what the condition of the used product is that you are receiving. We have had some instances where customers have purchased a used unit and it wasn't what they wanted or their dome port was scratched beyond repair. If you have any questions you can reply to this post or drop us a line at our website.

Take Care,
Erik

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Equinox Housings

Hi Steve,

I can definitely assist you with any questions that you may have regarding our housings. I would make sure that if you decide to go with a used housing through ebay or an alternate source that you are very clear on what the condition of the used product is that you are receiving. We have had some instances where customers have purchased a used unit and it wasn't what they wanted or their dome port was scratched beyond repair. If you have any questions you can reply to this post or drop us a line at our website.

Take Care,
Erik

---

Hi Erik,

Thanks for the response and information about the used housings issues. I don't know if this is the right forum thread for this as it's all about video at this point, if the moderators want to move it thats fine with me, or I can start a new thread under the video forum.

I looked at what you have to offer and do have a few questions. I'll post them here in case someone else runs across the post and has the same questions.

1) The HD6 housing appears to be the only one that will accommodate the Panasonic HDC-SD1, is that correct?

2) The controls that are listed as features, are those only the easy accessible controls or are they the ONLY controls available on the housing? IOW, will I be able to access the menu and joystick functions on the camera?

3) Is there any packages available that aren't listed on your site that include housings, lighting setups, and travel case?

4) Are the HD6 housing all the same or are they fitted for the separate model camera's. I think I know the answer but the site only shows one image for all of the cameras and there aren't any rear views of the housings available.

5) The color corrective lens that is included, what water is that best suited for, depth-clarity-etc?

6) It's not clear to me how the LCD monitor connects to the HDC-SD1. I'd like more information on that, that would seem to be an important aspect of recording.

In all, if I can get at the majority of the controls that I anticipate using, there are some specific modes like an auto macro mode that I would like to be able to engage but not set and forget, it is actually a much more economical solution when comparing to the A100 housings for my still camera.

Thanks for any info.

Steve

1) The HD6 housing is the housing for your your SD-1
2) The standard controls on/off, start/stop, zoom, still, memory are standard on all Hd 6 housings. Depending on the function that you are wanting to control and the location of that function on your camcorder we can in many cases add a control per your request.
3) We can put a package together for whatever the customer is looking for. If your specific package isn't on the website, just let us know what you are looking for and we can get you a package price for it.
4) Our housings are camera specific and the camera determines length of the housing and control set up.
5) The color correction filter we provide is a Blue water (salt) filter and depending on where you are diving, light, visibility, etc. In "Perfect" conditions you are looking at as deep as 60 ft. If you are diving in Fresh Water and want a Green water filter instead we can substitute it.
6) The LCD monitor supply plugs into your camera A/V port then into its own battery supply and then to the monitor itself. This allows you to keep the door of your camera closed, thus saving on your camcorder's battery life.

Erik

P.S. We will be launching our new website shortly and we are excited about our new capabilities and how helpful it will be to our customers. Thank you for your questions.